Monthly Archives: October 2012

No matter for how many years we have been designing and teaching courses, there always is something new to learn. With the advent of the MOOC (massively open online course), a multitude of interesting free learning opportunities are available. Blackboard’s Coursesites is sponsoring another program this month called “Designing an exemplary course.” Take a look…

A recent article in the Economist on art auction houses suggests that the international purchasing marketplace is shifting towards China. The two major auction houses that have dominated the market since the 1800s (Sotheby’s and Christie’s) are losing market share to two Chinese firms (China Guardian and Poly Auction). With the increase in Chinese consumer…

Using your classroom teams in their online Wiki sites, have students conduct the following studies: Using the short case this month on art auction houses, prepare an analysis of the four houses (Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Poly Auction, and China Guardian). Suggest the best competitive strategy for each of these houses in order to acquire the maximum…

A self-made man of the 1900’s, Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the US from Scotland in 1848. Founding the steel industry in 1870 during an economic downturn, he is credited for the astute vertical integration business strategy of ownership of the steel factory, the raw material sources and the transportation infrastructure. Later in his career, he…

Founded in Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, today Lego continues to be the family-owned business. It celebrates 80 years of existence this year. The trajectory from quality, wooden toys to the current Lego system based on Lego® bricks is an interesting story of entrepreneurial courage, innovative design and business creativity. From its beginning…

Stevenson places the historical context around both the Carnegie and Gates donations to public libraries. He posits that this permits us to understand the meaning of the philanthropic gift as an extension of the donors’ belief system. In both cases, the entrepreneurs felt that the beneficiaries of their libraries would be the social classes interested…

Neven Valev of the Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, provides a free website full of interactive statistical information on world economies. In addition to explanation guides of the concepts, indicators and economic relationships used throughout the site, a number of examples provide clear examples for student consumption. Users can create interactive…

Map-making software can be used in classroom presentations effectively. National Geographic has an interactive offer that is simple to use and visually effective. Themes by world region include physical systems (water, land and climate), human systems (population, culture, political and economic), and environment and society. Data and tools are pre-installed for map customization, including a…

Political scientists, Newman and Posner present a new model for understanding the relationship of market size, market scope and jurisdictional boundaries to cross-border economic interdependence as a source of power. They separate out geography from authority in their model, thus permitting them to look at what they label as four ideal-typical scenarios of power dynamics. …

The US and China accuse each other of unfair trade practices. The US believes that China is unfairly subsidizing its auto manufacturing industry; China retaliates that the US is unfairly raising import duties on goods such as steel, tires, magnets, chemicals, kitchen appliances, wood flooring and wind towers in its efforts…